Morviscous

“House Sounds”

(Trestle Records)

“House Sounds” represents the second release by Morviscous, a young quintet with members hailing from London and Paris. The new album is very much a London affair, appearing on the East London independent label Trestle Records and with recording sessions having been held at a house in Hackney and in an old distillery in Aldgate.

I’ve not heard the group’s first album, the much praised “Free Pop”, but the Trestle Records website suggests that “House Sounds” is a “clear step forward” with the quintet adding elements of electronica to their core instrumentation to create a wider sonic palette. Both Nick Siddall and Adam Coney are credited with guitar/production and the pair are joined by Pete Bennie on electric and acoustic bass and Jonny McKerney at the drums. The Parisian component of the group is Christian Berg who appears on both saxophone and synthesiser. Berg has his own album “White - Cold”, a collection of film scores, available on Trestle and also plays with the Parisian punk jazz band Pelayo.

Morviscous cite Deerhoof and John Zorn as primary influences and their music combines elements of jazz, experimental rock and electronica to create a kind of 21st Century prog rock/jazz fusion that nonetheless doffs its hat to jazz and rock styles of the past. Opener “Claws” is as powerful as the title might suggest with fuzzy keyboards and chunky unison guitar riffs immediately grabbing the listener’s attention. The jazz element comes from Berg’s sax but for all its feral energy the piece is not without subtlety and actually covers quite a wide dynamic range with the riffs punctuated by woozy keyboard episodes. Besides Zorn and Deerhoof I also thought I detected elements of Tortoise, Jaga Jazzist, Radiohead and King Crimson.
Other commentators have also cited Soft Machine, Battles and Acoustic Ladyland. Nick Siddall, who kindly sent me the album describes the band as “a fairly hard edged sax/guitar quintet” which seems to sum it up pretty nicely. 

The opener segues almost immediately into “Beyond Jumpers Part One”, initially another riff fest, but later leavened by more reflective passages featuring Berg’s keening saxophone. After this comparative lull it’s back to a more forceful, riff based approach with spidery rock guitar, bellicose,honking saxophone and rumbling bass. Once again the piece is constantly evolving and full of shifting dynamics.

“Sea Shack Sells” presents a more freely structured approach with eerie ambient sounds wrapped around the twin guitar tracery. The piece is little more than a delightful vignette and represents something of a palette cleanser before the opening riffage of the next item.

“Diminuendo” offers the now familiar pattern of monstrous riffs punctuated by gentler interludes such as Bennie’s acoustic bass solo and a passage of swirling pointillist guitars, the latter interrupted by Berg’s ferocious sax barrages. Maybe I should add Van Der Graaf Generator to the list of reference points.

“Beyond Jumpers Part 2” emerges almost immediately with perhaps the band’s most killer riff yet, angular and abrasive with crunching, razor sharp playing. But Morviscous don’t allow these moments to outstay their welcome and the piece continues to evolve through more impressionistic moments before building to an apparent climax.

“Sea Shack Flow” is another pause for breath, an atmospheric item featuring scratchy guitars, whooshing electronica and clanking, Tom Waits style percussion. It’s more sinister than its similarly named predecessor and builds in increasingly unsettling layers to an attenuated electronic coda.

“Pete Suite” (presumably named for the group’s bassist, Pete Bennie) alternates staccato riffing with quirky electronic/percussive interludes in thrilling fashion while the closing “Continental B” adds a kind of cerebral funk to the group’s arsenal of searing, rapidly mutating riffs and ambient textures, both of which are demonstrated at length here in a constantly shifting magnum opus.

“House Sounds” isn’t exactly a jazz record despite the presence of Berg’s sax. The rhythms may be almost uniformly rock but this doesn’t detract from the inventiveness of the band, their endlessly shifting prog/math/alt rock, call it what you will, is consistently absorbing and exciting. The group use their electronic elements judiciously and no one instrument is allowed to dominate, “House Sounds” represents a strong team effort. There’s a visceral edge about this music that suggests that Morviscous should also prove to be a highly dynamic live act. 

Hardcore swing and bebop fans might not appreciate Morviscous but there’s much here for adventurous listeners of both the jazz and rock persuasions to enjoy. This is quality instrumental music, whatever label you wish to pin on it.     

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